18, October 2016

Cultural festival that will powerfully revive India’s heritage, like never before. The event brought together the art, artisans, dance, handicrafts, flavours and music from different regions, making itself the largest ensemble of Indian culture.

Dances: Highlights

Pong Cholom dance (Manipur)and War dance (Nagaland)

Martial arts and dance forms such as ‘KathiSamu’ and ‘karasamu’ from Andhra Pradesh

‘MappilaKolkali’ and ‘Margam dance’ from Kerala

‘Kai Silambam’ from Puducherry

‘Devarattam’ from Tamil Nadu

‘Lava dance’ from Lakshadweep

As part of these celebrations, North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Patiala under the Ministry of Culture will be organizing a cultural extravaganza of folk dances & singing titled – ‘Uttar Bharat Ke Lok Ran

As part of promoting coastal shipping in the country under Sagarmala programme, the Ministry of Shipping has sanctioned the Capital Dredging Project for Ro Pax Ferry Services between Gogha & Dahej, in Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat.

The Ministry has released Rs 58.50 Crore as first installment of grant-in–aid to Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB). The total project cost is estimated to be Rs 234 Crore and of which 50% will be funded by Centre Government under the Sagarmala programme.

Significance:

The project would result in reduction in motorable distance of 231 kms between Gogha & Dahej to mere 31 kms and reduce the travel time from 7 hours to 1 hour only by crossing the Gulf in Cambay in 17 Nautical Miles.

The initiative would not only reduce the travel time but also result in savings in fuel, reduction in CO2 emission and reduction in road congestion.

The project is first of its kinds in India as it will be executed in the area of world’s 2nd highest tidal range.

The project would open up new avenues in coastal shipping & tourism and help in socio-economic development of proximate areas. It would also help in utilisation of inland waterways through River Narmada for shipping goods from industries located upstream.

Sagarmala plan:

This plan is based on four strategic levers –

Optimizing multi-modal transport to reduce the cost of domestic cargo,

Minimizing the time and cost of export-import cargo logistics,

Lowering costs for bulk industries by locating them closer to the coast, and

SSBNs are designed to prowl the deep ocean waters carrying nuclear weapons and provide a nation with an assured second strike capability — the capability to strike back after being hit by nuclear weapons first.

Second strike capability is particularly important for India as it had committed to a ‘No-First-Use’ policy as part of its nuclear doctrine.

Their efforts to arm submarines with atomic weapons are theoretically aimed at preventing the outbreak of war by discouraging enemies from attacking. Ballistic-missile submarines are considered to have played such a deterrent role in the Cold War.

Capacity:

The vessel weighing 6000 tonnes is powered by a 83 MW pressurised light water nuclear reactor.

The project to build a strategic vessel began as the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project in the 1980s.

It will be armed with the K-15 Sagarika missiles with a range of 750 km and eventually with the much longer range K-4 missiles being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation.

India:

India joins the select group of countries which have a nuclear triad, i.e. capable of delivering nuclear weapons by aircraft, ballistic missiles and submarine launched missiles.

India is close to becoming the world’s sixth country to put a nuclear-armed submarine into operation, a move that would give it a leg up on neighboring Pakistan and intensify a race for more underwater weapons in Asia.

The 6,000-ton Arihant, developed over the past three decades under a secret government program, according to a senior navy officer who declined to be identified because he’s not authorized to speak about the program.

The vessel will be operated by the navy yet remain under the direct control of India’s Nuclear Command Authority headed by Prime Minister.

The deployment would complete India’s nuclear triad, allowing it to deliver atomic weapons from land, sea and air.

Only the U.S. and Russia are considered full-fledged nuclear triad powers now, with China and India’s capabilities still largely untested.

The 21st Law Commission in its first report recommended a series of changes in the draft Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction Bill-2016, proposed by the Women and Child Development Ministry,

The Law Commission has recommended:

The Commission has, in its revised “The Protection of Children (Inter-Country Removal and Retention) Bill, 2016”, also recommended three months’ punishment for wilful misrepresentation or concealment of fact as regards the location or information about the child or for voluntarily prevent the safe return of the child.

Including one-year jail term for wrongful retention or removal of a child from the custody of a parent.

The offenders may include one of the parents or family, relatives and others.

Background:

The principles of best interest of the child can be found in the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, which came into force on September 2, 1990, and the Preamble and object of the Hague Convention, 1980,” said the Commission.

The Law Commission had, in its 218th report, examined the same issues and advised the government to sign the Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Upon coming to know that the government has prepared a draft of the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction Bill, 2016, the Commission decided to examine the proposed provisions and is of the opinion that it requires revision keeping in view the legislative precedents and practices followed in the drafting of Bills and to suitably harmonise its provisions with the Hague Convention.

The Commission quoted a Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment referring the matter to the Law Commission “to examine multiple issues involved in inter-country, inter-parental child removal amongst families and thereafter to consider whether recommendations should be made for enacting a suitable law for signing the Hague Convention on Child Abduction”.

Hague convention:

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or Hague Abduction Convention is a multilateral treaty developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) that provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted by a parent from one member country to another.

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